Is it possible for an experience to be everything you expected, yet still be disappointing? Probably not, but that’s how it feels for Sabrina Carpenter’s newest album, Short & Sweet. I expected it to be above-average background music, while simultaneously hoping for more than that from someone as talented and popular as Carpenter. After coming out of nowhere with back-to-back excellent singles, I thought this album might be truly special. But maybe that’s an unfair expectation. 

Carpenter’s almost unprecedented rise from a smaller artist to the hottest artist in the world puts her album in a tough spot. This fast rise to the top from a single song suddenly becoming the biggest song in the world raises expectations to an unfair level.  Directly following up two back-to-back smash-hit singles is a nearly impossible task. On the other hand, Carpenter has fully embraced her place on top of the pop universe with a confidence that makes it seem like she’s always been there, validating these raised expectations. So, with these heightened expectations, does Short & Sweet live up to it?

The lead and obvious flagship of the album is track 1, “Taste”. It has an upbeat confident tone and eye-opening vocals worthy of the lead track of a big release like this one. It is also the only song in the release with a corresponding music video, depicting Carpenter attempting to kill her ex’s new girlfriend, portrayed by actress Jenna Ortega, which helps the virality of the song tremendously. 

The rest of the album doesn’t stand out nearly as much. Outside of the previous hit singles, “Please, Please, Please”, and “Espresso”, which are technically part of the album, there’s nothing groundbreaking with this release.  That doesn’t mean the rest of the songs are bad. Some highlights are track 3 “Good Graces” with a satisfying beat that blends with the background vocals seamlessly, and track 11 “Lie to Girls” which delivers the type of heart-wrenching story I wanted more from the release. While other songs like “Coincidence” and “Juno” deliver Carpenter’s trademark confidence and smooth vocals fans have come to expect from the artist.

Short & Sweet is a throwback to a bygone era when albums were just a collection of songs with no thematic and tonal throughlines. In her interview with Jimmy Fallon promoting the album, Carpenter says that this feels like her self-titled album, traditionally an artist’s first record. It essentially is, with this being her first album released in her superstar era. And if this is her first album in a new direction, it will be interesting to see where she goes from here.